Dance at Twilight
by AAMFanFiction2015
Summary: Steven and Connie decide to finish their dance from Alone Together-how it should have been. StevenxConnie / Stevonnie appearence!


A/N: Hello readers! This is a Steven Universe one shot I wrote for an assignment in my FanFiction class. It's the first SU fanfic I've written, but I've had the idea in my head for a while now. I haven't posted anything on FFN for a long time now, but I'm proud of this story and I'm glad it will be the first thing I post on here in a long while. I will repost this story on my regular FFN account as well as my Tumblr, in hopes of reaching a wider audience. **This fic is set after Maximum Capacity and before Marble Madness**, which should not make a huge difference, but because of this it excludes a lot of information revealed after these episodes. **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story! All rights for the show's content belong to Rebecca Sugar and/or Cartoon Network. No content warnings apply. **

"No way. This can't be true. How can it be?!"

"I'm sorry, Steven, but there's no denying the truth."

"But I thought you were just kidding about marshmallows being made of animal by-products!" Steven exclaimed, throwing his hands up in a gesture of disbelief.

"Nope, not kidding. Most marshmallows have gelatin as a main ingredient, which is derived from animal collagen, bone marrow, connective tissues, stuff like that. Just like I said."

"Aw…knowing that is gonna make them harder to eat." Steven said, eyes downcast for just a second before snapping his head back up. "But not too much harder," earning a giggle from Connie.

It was late in the day, and the two of them were walking down a section of the beach that ran parallel to town. It was quiet except for the ocean's waves gently lapping at the shore. Beach City was still slow and sleepy with the cooler temperatures halting tourism, but Steven and Connie were comfortable with their respective jacket and long-sleeved shirt.

"So then," Connie started after a moment, "what's this 'emergency' you called about?" Steven had left a voicemail on Connie's phone earlier that day, informing her that she should come over to his house as soon as possible. ("Connie, you need to get over here quick, it's an emergency! ...Well, it's not a _real_ emergency, sorry. But you need to be here as soon as you can!")

"Oh, yeah!" Steven said as if he had almost forgotten, stopping in his tracks. "All right, so-you remember when we went to that dance party at the warehouse a while back?"

Connie jolted slightly at the mention of that subject.

"Sure, of course I do." How could she forget? It was the first time she had danced in public, and not only that, it just happened to be when she was impossibly fused in mind and body with Steven thanks to his gem. Not that any of it was a bad experience; it had only sent her far beyond her comfort zone at the time. It wasn't an easily forgotten incident.

"I was thinking about it again this morning and I realized we never got to finish our dance, thanks to that Kevin guy." A look of disgust crossed his face briefly, then he continued, "Anyway, I wanted to ask you if we could finish it now, right here. Alone. Together." He finished with a sheepish smile and the slightest blush of red on his cheek.

"O-Oh, I see," Connie stammered. Of course she wanted to. Dancing on the beach with Steven that day was like nothing she had ever done before and she would likely never forget it. But what if she _couldn't? _What if she was so nervous that she couldn't move her feet, or she embarrassed herself in front of Steven? Or hurt his feelings by not appearing present or being too self conscious? She felt her face flush pink with the rush of emotion. _No! _She thought, catching herself, _don't psych yourself out now, this is important!_

"I mean, um…" She said after a few seconds, then her expression became resolute. "Yeah. Yes, I would love to!"

But Steven's face didn't light up as much as she'd expected it to.

"I guess by that I mean I want to finish it _really_ together, like it should have been," Steven continued as he turned to look into Connie's eyes, "I think we should try to fuse again. Let's form Stevonnie."

Connie was momentarily taken aback by the suggestion. All the worries and objections flared up in her mind again as she remembered feeling alone and out of control at the dance party last time. She pushed all those thoughts aside, though. Steven wasn't the only one that had been thinking about this; somewhere deep down she really wanted to experience fusion again, too. She made her commitment.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," she responded, and this time Steven's signature grin did appear as if he couldn't hold it back any longer. She smiled confidently back at him, but it faded when her head caught up with her heart.

"Wait. Last time, we fused by accident," Connie pointed out, "Do you even know how to do it again?"

"Sure I do! We just hafta…" Steven trailed off, looking more and more unsure the longer he thought about it.

"Uh-here," Steven pulled his music player out of his pocket and quickly scrolled through the songs until he found what he was looking for. "Okay, this is the song I played before. I think. Now, you were over there," he said, pointing to a spot in the sand as he hurried over to another spot himself, "And I was over here!"

"All right," Connie went along with his instructions, hoping that Steven knew what he was doing. She knew it was probably in vain.

"You ready?" Steven called once they were in position, and Connie nodded. He pushed play and stuck the bottom half of the player in the sand.

They waited as the slow guitar strums of the intro played, and moved closer when the melody picked up.

"Take my hands," Steven said when they were close enough. They re-enacted each part of the dance they could remember: they danced hand in hand, Steven twirled Connie, and they separated to dance as they pleased until the song was nearly over.

"Okay, now you catch me!" Steven yelled as he ran back over to Connie, taking her off guard. He spun around and began to fall backwards, and Connie barely got to him in time to not-so-gracefully catch him. They held for a moment, but instead of fusing, Steven slipped from her grasp and hit the ground on the song's final note.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" Connie asked apologetically.

"Yeah. I'm all right." Steven replied as Connie helped him to his feet. His face fell into a frown. "But it didn't work."

"Well, no, but...we can try again!" Connie encouraged him, disappointed as well but not ready to give up.

"We did everything exactly the same as last time, though! I don't know what else to do." Steven said, looking defeated. "Pearl did say that it should be impossible for us to fuse. What if she's right?"

"We've done it before. It has to be possible."

"But what if-"

"Shhh," Connie shushed him, "Come on, of course we can do it. What did the gems tell you about fusion, besides the dancing part?"

Steven thought for a moment as he tried recall the gems' advice. "They said it's all about synchronizing with your partner. Garnet says keeping the harmony is important, and Amethyst and Pearl had to quit fighting and understand each other before they could fuse."

"Sounds to me like we have to, um, follow the funky flow. Am I right?" Connie responded with a chuckle, recalling the phrase Steven often used.

Steven looked into her eyes, abruptly taking special notice of her lack of glasses. It made him happy when she didn't wear them; it reminded him of the time he made one of the biggest discoveries about his powers by healing her eyes. He stared at her in thought for another brief moment, squinting a little as if he was searching for something in her face.

"Yeah...wait, that's it! Follow the funky flow!" Steven's face glowed in excitement at the realization. "Hold on just one minute, Connie. I need to think."

"Oh. Okay, I guess!" Connie replied, confused but willing to see what he would come up with. She watched as Steven took off down the beach a little ways and plopped down in the sand.

How could he follow the funky flow? That's what he had done months ago, on the first day he talked to Connie. Obviously it had worked out. But how could he replicate those feelings?

Steven thought about how he felt that first day with Connie. He was nervous at first, but once they started talking, things went off without a hitch. Every time they were together after that day also felt so right and natural, somehow. Being with Connie could make him feel like nothing else could, not even a dozen Cookie Cats.

Of course he was also always happy when he was with the gems; how couldn't he be? But sometimes, even in everyday life, he felt inadequate compared to them. Powerless. Maybe even useless. They were all amazing people with unbelievable powers, and what was he? Just Steven. Steven, who could occasionally form a shield but who had also lost control of his healing powers and felt all the limitations of being half human. He could never blame the gems for how he felt, but there was no denying that the pressure got to him sometimes.

When he spends time with Connie, it's a whole different story. She's also an amazing person, probably just as amazing as any of the gems. The difference is that she just _gets _Steven. Around her, he can be himself with no need for explanation, apology, or embarrassment. "You don't need any powers to be here with me," she had said one day while they were eating lunch together, and that always resonated with Steven. Powers or no powers, he could always spend time with Connie and be considered an equal.

How did Connie make Steven feel? Needed. Significant. Worthy. _Important_.

He stood up and brushed the sand off his jeans as he walked back to where Connie was waiting.

"Did you figure anything out?" she asked when he reached her.

"We'll see," he said, grabbing his music player again, "Let's try it again." Connie nodded.

He had never really thought out his feelings like this before. Even with all the uncertainty he still held in his head, he felt in his heart that this could be only the beginning of something truly fantastic.

They took their places again and Steven hit replay on their song, bobbing his head to the rhythm as he buried the bottom half of the player in the sand. The melody started and they took each others' hands to dance together, smiling when their eyes met. Steven gave Connie a quick and smooth spin as they broke to dance separately.

Steven danced in his usual flowing and rhythmic side-to-side motions, making it look effortless. Connie made much larger, sweeping movements, throwing her hair when she changed directions. She grinned widely when she noticed Steven letting himself just go with the music, like he needed to.

They made eye contact as the last part of the song began. They crossed each others' paths and Steven fell backwards, making sure of Connie's position first. She caught him in perfect form, and they stared into each others' eyes for only an instant before they both broke out into delighted laughter and pressed their foreheads together.

Steven's gem took on a pink glow and made a bright flash on the final note of the song.

**~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~**

Their senses slowly returned to them as the pink glow faded.

"Connie, are you…?"

"Steven? I'm here. Did it work?"

They blinked a few times to clear their eyes and looked down at their bodies. Their _body_. They saw the semi-familiar form of Stevonnie's tall, sturdy build and the distinctive black, curly hair reaching past their hips. They wore Steven's jeans like a pair of shorts and Connie's long-sleeved shirt under Steven's unzipped jacket. The clothes were short enough on their torso to make a sort of crop top, revealing Steven's gem set in their stomach.

"W-We did it! Wow!" they exclaimed in delight and awe. They could feel energy surging through them from the fusion process; they had almost forgotten how powerful it made them feel. After another moment of admiration, they turned to pick up Steven's music player.

"Ready to do this?" they asked out loud to no one in particular. Neither had to answer, as they sensed each others' feelings internally. They tapped the randomize button on the player and replaced it in the sand. The intro to a somber-toned yet steady-tempoed song played as they centered their mind and body. They took a deep breath over the guitar strums. Eyes closed, they swayed back and forth to the beat and started with a spin when the vocals picked up.

**oOoOoOo**

Connie closely examined the feeling of being fused. Last time was such a blur that she barely remembered what it felt like. It was warm, she concluded. Warm like when you're standing up against someone else, which was essentially what they were doing, as she figured. Just in a magical destiny kind of way. But it was different from that, too. She could sense and feel all of Steven's emotions. She couldn't read his mind, exactly; only his state of mind. Right then, he was overwhelmingly happy-exactly as expected from Steven. It made Connie feel happy as well.

How in the world had she gotten here? If someone had told her a year ago that she would be not only dancing with a boy on a beach but also _sharing a body with this boy_, she would have laughed in their face and called them crazy. Aside from the physical impossibility being suggested, Connie dancing? In public? With a boy? Even more impossible. Yet here they were, dancing like neither of them ever had before. And it felt so _right_.

Before Connie met Steven, she didn't have even one friend. She genuinely felt like the only people who knew she existed were her parents, and they were never too keen on letting her out of their sight. Studies came first, and not just school work; her parents assigned her extra readings and research to keep her ahead of everyone else. After all, the Maheswarans had a standard to uphold; no time for goofing off. Or watching television. Or socializing. Or having a life.

Stevonnie lept into the air and caught themselves in a crouching position on the ground. They stood up and gave a high kick as the refrain of the song began. The fluid motions they danced in were reminiscent of Steven's smooth style, like water flowing over each chord on the guitar. Their expression was neutral, as if they were in deep thought.

Of course, it wasn't completely her parents' fault. Any time Connie did find herself in a situation involving other people, she was anxious and self conscious. After a while she didn't even try to associate with others anymore. Why should she? She didn't have any idea what she was doing and felt perfectly content quietly reading or thinking to herself. Even when she and Steven were about to suffocate, starve, or drown at the bottom of the ocean, she accepted her fate to die trapped and cripplingly lonely. What a terrible way to go. But the way she was living was suffocating enough.

The song's melody faded away, and they slowed their movements until they were only tapping their foot as the beat grew fainter and fainter. When it was gone, they broke into a huge smile.

"That was amazing," they said, stretching out their arms, "I'm not even tired out. Let's go for another one." They both sensed the other's agreement.

The music player autoplayed to another random song. It had a livelier tone and a quicker rhythm than the previous one, and a ukulele was the only instrument used in the intro. A ukulele. Classic Steven, of course.

Vocals and other instruments came in a few seconds later. Stevonnie made a sweeping motion with their hands and put them on their hips to rock back and forth to the beat.

That time on the ocean floor, Steven didn't let Connie give up on herself. He reached out to her like no one ever had before. The confidence boost from that small gesture alone was unbelievable; she never knew how incredible having a friend could be. Although, Steven was a particularly incredible person. He reminded her of that fact in one way or another almost every time they were together. Knowing that such a one-of-a-kind person would willingly spend time with her as much as possible made her feel special, too.

As the chorus rang out, they flipped their impressive mane of hair out of their face, and it seemed to shimmer in the fading sunlight. They had closed their eyes, blissfully lost in the music.

What would her parents say if they ever knew she was doing this? Honestly, for once in her life, Connie didn't care what they would think. She was her own person, and she needed to start thinking like it. Even if she didn't care what they thought, however, she wouldn't mention a word about it to them. It was for the same reason that she still wore her glasses around them and still acted like the perfect, no-nonsense daughter they expected her to be. Connie loved her parents and they loved her too, but she recognized the importance of keeping her relationship with Steven mostly a secret from them for now. What the two of them had was far too important to jeopardize.

They took deliberate, staccato steps when the melody broke for a few independent notes on the ukulele.

Since meeting Steven, Connie was much more open to letting others into her world. It became easier and easier to conquer the voice in her head telling her to give up or stop caring. All the thoughts that would never leave her mind before, both good and bad, were now shared through long beach walks or late-night phone calls with Steven. Her confidence skyrocketed in everything from the clothes she wore to the opinions she held, and it all stemmed from the original encounter with her first and only best friend. It sometimes worried her to think about where she would be now if that had never happened, but she found peace in knowing she never had to find out.

Stevonnie let out a whoop of joy and struck a jubilant pose on the last note of the song.

How did Steven make Connie feel? He made her feel..._free_.

**~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~**

"I'm telling you Lars, the ones with the long tails are the best."

"Yeah, right! The blue ones are way better."

"Seriously? Even the crackling ones are better than the blue ones."

Lars and Sadie walked down the boardwalk together after closing up the Big Donut for the night. It had been a boring day in the shop, and they had resorted to aimlessly discussing their favorite types of fireworks.

"Whatever. I don't even care what they look like as long as they pack a punch. BOOM! I mean, that's the whole point of-" Lars was interrupted by Sadie elbowing him in the side.

"Ow! Hey, what was that for?" Lars asked peevishly. Sadie quickly pulled him down behind a row of trash cans.

"What in the world are you doing?!" he asked, annoyed and confused. Sadie shushed him and peeked over the lid of a trash can.

"Look," she said quietly and pointed towards the beach. Lars shifted to see where she was pointing. A hundred yards away he saw Stevonnie dancing near the shoreline, and he could just barely make out some music coming from the same direction. It sounded like something Sour Cream would make, Lars noted.

"It's that lady," Lars remarked in surprise.

"I know," Sadie said, "I haven't seen her since she came into the Big Donut that one night. Do you know her?"

"No," Lars replied, "but I wish I did." Sadie nodded slowly in agreement.

As Lars and Sadie watched, Stevonnie took a great twirling leap into the air and landed in an elegant pose. Their whole person appeared to sparkle in the fading sunlight.

"Wow," they breathed, awestruck. They had almost forgotten just how stunning she was, and seeing her dance like this was mesmerizing.

"Go say something to her," Sadie spoke up after a moment.

"What?! Me? Why don't you go do it?" Lars retorted.

"I...I can't! Come on, you're all about the ladies, right?"

"Yeah, but this one's different!"

"Different how? You big scaredy cat, get over there and-"

They were interrupted when Stevonnie suddenly stopped dancing. Their body gained a pink glow and there was a quick, bright flash of light. Steven and Connie separated and landed opposite of each other on the sand, giggling as they sat up and looked at each other. Lars and Sadie stared for what felt like an eternity.

"_Steven_." Lars outright hissed, breaking their silence first. He turned and started walking away with his hands shoved in his pockets, grumbling angrily to himself. Sadie gawked at the giggling kids for a moment longer before slowly standing up to follow Lars.

"I need to go home and rethink some things," she muttered under her breath, eyes wide.

Back over on the beach, Steven and Connie sat in the sand, trying to collect themselves.

"We should do this again sometime," Steven managed to say over his laughter.

If Connie had been able to stop herself from giggling long enough, she would have said, "I couldn't want anything more."

A/N: Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Steven and Connie's relationship is a lovely thing, and it just works so well. The person they are together is amazing (*cough* Lars and Sadie are too). I really enjoyed writing about all of it. A special thanks to my beta reader and proofreaders as well! Read and review!


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